The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating curved sausages from a string of sausages by a cutting device at a cutting place. The string of sausages is fed in an arc to the cutting place.
From Federal Republic of Germany Patent OS 43 18 301.8, an apparatus for separating sausages from a string of sausages is known in which the string of sausages is fed to a cutting place along a straight line. In front of the cutting place, there is a sensor which recognizes a place to be cut between two sausages and, on the basis of corresponding parameters, imparts a signal to a knife in the cutting place so that this knife cuts precisely through the region between two sausages. The cutting device has proven to be extremely good for the cutting of straight sausages from a string of sausages. However, it can be used only for straight, or merely slightly curved, sausages. In particular, sausages having a natural casing are, however, frequently very strongly curved so that this device cannot be used since the sausages may be damaged when bent straight.
A machine manufactured by the Thurne company is available on the market for the separating of curved sausages from a string of sausages. In it, the sausages on the string of sausages are fed in arcuate shape to a cutting place. The sausages are conducted between rollers which press against the sausages only along a transverse line. This guidance is very imprecise so that there is frequently a malfunctioning of the cutting place. The rejects by way of damaged sausages are therefore very high in the case of this machine.